Energy Law and Policy Research Guide

Government agencies create rules to implement statutes the agency has been tasked with enforcing. Agencies interpret and apply their governing statutes to create detailed rules, which provide procedures and substantive requirements for implementation and enforcement.

Federal rules currently in force are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Proposed and final versions of rules are published in the Federal Register before they are codified in the CFR. Rulemakings can be tracked from proposal to adoption at Regulations.gov.

Energy-related rules are issued by a number of agencies, so a keyword search in the CFR can yield relevant results from multiple agencies.  

The Department of Energy Organization Act centralized the federal government’s major energy programs. Relevant agencies are listed below along with the title of the CFR where their rules are located:

Department of Energy—Title 10

Federal Acquisition Regulations System for the Department of Energy—Title 48, Parts 900–999

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—Title 18

Nuclear Regulatory Commission—Title 10

Environmental Protection Agency—Title 40

Department of the Interior—Title 43